Qahal belief system

The Qahal believe that every person's soul has two parts: the umaffia, and the ungataanut.

The umaffia is created for someone mostly by their mother while she is pregnant, however it is not fully formed until birth; while laboring, expectant mothers will surround themselves with women they are close to who sing songs of welcome as the baby is born, and it is these coaxing songs which help the umaffia to fully form. The umaffia is the part of the soul which inhabits a person's physical body. It is tough and resilient, capable of weathering hardships and coming out the other side.

The ungataanut, sung and orated into existence by the spirits of your ancestors, is the part of your soul waiting for you in the afterlife. It is more sensitive, not being built for the adversity of a life on Aidonia but for the wholeness one is meant to experience after death, to be vulnerable enough to feel a harmony with the world that is not possible on the mortal plane. While the two souls remain separate during a person's lifetime, they are still tethered to each other, and meant to merge into one complete being when a person's physical body dies.

This tethering can come with consequences. The Qahal people subscribe to a number of different taboos which regular social behavior; they vary somewhat between different tribes, but most have a common theme of not doing harm or giving offence to others or the world around you. It is believed that when putting harm out into the world, that harm will also be inflicted upon one's ungataanut. This harm is irreparable, making it harder for the ungataanut to merge with the umaffia, or for the merge to be flawed. At a certain point, the two may never be able to merge, causing a person to never be truly whole.

Kalashtar are believed to be the exception to this, having been born with both souls in their physical body, giving rise to their unusual powers. Many tribes believe this rare occurrence to be an accident; souls are human, and subject to the human tendency to make mistakes. However, there are some who believe it may be a nudging of fate towards something greater.

Culture

The women who sing while a baby is born occupy a specific familial role for the Qahal people. While they are often referred to as aunts in other languages, this is not an accurate term. Known as kitsilik, they serve as secondary maternal figures, responsible for caring for a child when their parents are away, as well as helping teaching the children the songs that were sung for them when they were born, so that they may someday be able to sing them for someone else.

Tenets of Faith

Common taboos:

• Harming a fellow clansman who has done you no harm and poses you no threat
• Eating animals from the land alongside animals from the sea
• Hunting in forests and parts of the ocean deemed to be sacred

Worship

The Qahal do not often pay homage to deities; they do not disparage them, but view most of them as being rather distant and separate from their lives. One of the few exceptions is Loaliv. As god of the oceans and seas, they will often leave him ritual offerings out of respect and in hopes that he will bless them with safe waters and a plentiful hunt.

Type

Religious, Other

Deities

• Sedin

Related Species

• Kalashtar

Related Ethnicities

• Qahalem